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Mario the chef (september 2 1973 Las Vegas reference)

Sat Jul 22, 2006 10:34 am

Dear Elvis fans,

Anyone out there knows of the chef that elvis tried to
get re-hired as per las vegas show september 1973?
I bet he has quite a story to tell!

Alternatively, Mario if youre still with us....

longlivetheking!!!

robt from australia

Re: Mario the chef (september 2 1973 Las Vegas reference)

Sat Jul 22, 2006 1:15 pm

Robt wrote:Anyone out there knows of the chef that elvis tried toget re-hired as per las vegas show september 1973?

Mario was a favorite waiter at the HIlton, but history does not reveal if Elvis' odd comments prior to a very odd "Mystery Train" / "Tiger Man" at the Sep '73 CS spurred the hotel to reinstate the ex-waiter.

Sat Jul 22, 2006 1:23 pm

Its one of the strangest concerts i've ever heard. For the first half of the show, he laughs, improvises jokes in song lines, and not to mention, bring out a bed during 'What now my love', a very serious song he turned in to a comedy piece. But then for the 2nd and last half, he gets serious to the point of angry. Listen to him before 'My boy', when a fan calls out a song title, and he gets very frustrated 'Hey i run this show, don't start throwing songs at me'. When i played this back the 2nd time, he definitely was angry. Still, i have to recommend the concert for the version of 'Fever' alone, what a genius improvisation!

Sat Jul 22, 2006 1:24 pm

[Disruptive comments deleted -- FECC BOOGEYMAN]

Sat Jul 22, 2006 1:31 pm

MauriceinIreland wrote:Doc, What would we do without you?

I don't know what we might do, but you'd lose out on following around the person you're most jealous of here -- me.

Don't fret, grampa, there'll always be room for a statue of a stumpy, pre-teen Elvis somewhere on planet Earth.

Sat Jul 22, 2006 1:47 pm

[Disruptive comments deleted -- FECC BOOGEYMAN]

Sat Jul 22, 2006 2:49 pm

Please stop. It's annoying. This could be such an interesting thread.

Sat Jul 22, 2006 3:01 pm

[Disruptive comments deleted -- FECC BOOGEYMAN]

Sat Jul 22, 2006 3:33 pm

Scott, I just love this show ! It's a special one indeed. I guess Elvis thought he would never return to Vegas again after this show, because I thought that it was after this one that he had his famous "fight" with the Colonel.

Sat Jul 22, 2006 6:36 pm

Thomas wrote:Please stop. It's annoying. This could be such an interesting thread.

Interesting thread, yes. It is not a show that I listen to very often though. Definitely not one of my favorites.

But I do have an original FTD of the show. Does everyone else who has posted on this thread have the real deal or do some have a CDR of this particular FTD?

Sat Jul 22, 2006 6:52 pm

I do own an original FTD of this very release.

It is however a veeery strange show, and it's only about three times I've had it in the player.

However I remember beeing shocked hearing all that nonsense and the comment about Mario the waiter.

Elvis was exaggerating that night. He seemed to be really happy that the engagement was over.

Sun Jul 23, 2006 2:34 am

Interestingly, had Elvis not survived his drug overdose in late October 1973 -- by all reports, it was close -- this show would've been the last-ever. No Indianapolis 1977, just this crazy Vegas perfromance.

Naturally, his behavior that night would've certainly added fuel to those honing in on the reason for his untimely passing.

Sun Jul 23, 2006 2:53 am

Nice catch Doc.........I hadn't thought of that. Well done.

I wonder how differently things might have turned out if he had not survived that close encounter.

Without the alienation of the Wests and Hebler.

Without the blatant escalation in prescriptions traced to Nick.

Without the CBS Special as the stunning iconoclastic event that it was.

Would all the books have been written?? And even if so, with the image of Elvis from Aloha still indelibly imprinted upon the popular consciousness, would the scandals have had the detrimental effect that they have had today??

How do you do
................... the voodoo
.................................that you do???

Sun Jul 23, 2006 3:09 am

drjohncarpenter wrote:Interestingly, had Elvis not survived his drug overdose in late October 1973 -- by all reports, it was close -- this show would've been the last-ever. No Indianapolis 1977, just this crazy Vegas perfromance.

Naturally, his behavior that night would've certainly added fuel to those honing in on the reason for his untimely passing.

On the set of Kissin' Cousins, the breaks of his jeep didn't work, causing a near fatal situation.
Kissin' Cousins would have been his last work...
Get me out of this nightmare please

Sun Jul 23, 2006 4:06 am

EP had indeed had a number of close calls in the years leading up to '77.

Yet another, in addition to the October '73 crash, was January of '75. Had he not pulled thru this one, it would have been chalked up to depression, inability to cope secondary to his father's heart attack, turning "Fat-n-Forty", & experiencing a mid-life crisis.

Just goes to show, as with '77, ............. people will pick and selectively choose events happening at the time and attribute as the cause of EP's demise.

'77 was EP's long delayed rendezvous with destiny.

N8

Sun Jul 23, 2006 5:34 am

N880EP wrote:EP had indeed had a number of close calls in the years leading up to '77.

[...]

'77 was EP's long delayed rendezvous with destiny.

He was definitely a man living on borrowed time. You know, after the first crash, which I still know little about (and the others leading up the fateful '77 one), I can't help but regard everything he said and did after it as a miracle. Every record he cut, every jumpsuit he wore, every stage he took to... it all could, and from a certain point of view, should, have been his last. That's no longer just EP singing on the "Today" album or "The Jungle Room Sessions" or "Elvis In Concert" ---->> that's the sound and visage of a man who should be dead. Ultimately: what a catastrophic waste. As slumpy as those last years were, Elvis' voice was still changing, new sounds were still being tried (if sporadically), Elvis started using the piano in 76/77 etc. He was still redefining himself and the world around him. And yet, if he had died in 73, we'd have none of that. All of that post-October 73 history has this extra dimension -- if only because it's No Man's Land. Thinking about that takes my breath away.

Sun Jul 23, 2006 5:47 am

Cryogenic wrote:And yet, if he had died in 73, we'd have none of that. All of that post-October 73 history has this extra dimension -- if only because it's No Man's Land. Thinking about that takes my breath away.

Much agreed.

The same can be said of post '77. Just imagine what we've all missed out on since then (had EP been able to pull thru).

N8

Sun Jul 23, 2006 6:09 am

drjohncarpenter wrote:This is what I do.

Scatter wrote:How do you do................... the voodoo .................................that you do???

So well?!

Tom

Sun Jul 23, 2006 6:18 am

Ton Bruins wrote:Scott, I just love this show ! It's a special one indeed. I guess Elvis thought he would never return to Vegas again after this show, because I thought that it was after this one that he had his famous "fight" with the Colonel.

It was my understanding that Elvis thought it was his last HIlton vegas show, thats why the comments like Mario and "To hell with the Hilton Hotel" during Love Me Tender...In my opinion, not only the strangest vegas show, but the most unprofessional and worst closing show ever. Even chastises the audience after How great thou art with "thank you for showing appreciation at something at least.."

Sun Jul 23, 2006 8:10 am

Robert wrote:On the set of Kissin' Cousins, the breaks of his jeep didn't work, causing a near fatal situation.

Robert, nothing happened on the set or with a jeep. However, IIRC, there was some sort of brake failure at that time, in a mobile home Elvis was driving, perhaps en route to Hollywood to make "Kissin' Cousins."

It was a treacherous ride down some mountainous road (the "Grapevine" in Southern California?) which Elvis deftly managed to navigate using his lower gears and a lot of moxie.

Sun Jul 23, 2006 4:24 pm

This was indeed the situation I was referring to.. thanks for the details Doc.

Sun Jul 23, 2006 5:03 pm

I own the FTD release of this show and it's certainly diffrent and quite possibly one of the worst performances ever, even Trilogy isn't up to par.

It might be an uglier side of his personality, but also is a look into his state of mind at that time. "Adios you mother, bye bye poppa too. To hell with the Hilton Hotel and the showroom too." Methinks that he was so fed up with performing at the hotel, that he snapped. As far as I recall Mario had a wife, who was dying of cancer and Elvis plus entourage visited her at their home. And when Elvis found out that that he was about to get fired, he got upset. And he used the stage as a podium to let Baron and Conrad know what he thought, especially of the Hilton hierarchy. He could and should have been more professional and talked to them personally and in private. Parker and him fell out after the show, he quit and handed Vernon a bill over was it two or three million?

-------------------

This is what Marker Lacker said about the incident. I know some of you don't like him, but he was present at that time and I guess it is a valuable insight:

The Mario fiasco put Elvis finally in the mood, at that moment, to not want to play Vegas anymore. He was tired of it and he was bored with it. He didn't want to be the one to break his contract, he was trying to piss them off to the point, by insulting Baron Hilton and the Hotel execs, that they would break it and ask him not to come back. That's the way he perated. He was in such a bad mood that he didn't care what he said, what or how he sang. He just thought it was totally unfair what they did to Mario who had been there for such a long time and had served Elvis so well. And it was unfair. Mario didn't ask Elvis to come to his house, Elvis insisted. That was when he thought he had healing powers and went out there and tried to heal Mario's wife. He told some of us to stay out of the room as he knew we thought he was disillusioned about his powers, to say the least. We stayed out by the pool. || I don't recall if Elvis did anything for Mario but I do know that Mario knew what Elvis said on the stage that night. I came back to Memphis a few days after going out to his house with Elvis but I don't recall what happened after that as far as Mario is concerned.

Sun Jul 23, 2006 5:36 pm

Let's don't forget that it is fantastic that we get even such a show from FTD for our collections.